Graça Foster became the first female CEO of Petrobras, one of the world's largest oil companies, breaking a major glass ceiling in the energy sector.
On February 13, 2012, Maria das Graças Silva Foster was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Petrobras, Brazil's state-controlled oil and gas multinational and one of the largest energy companies in the world. She succeeded José Sérgio Gabrielli, becoming the first woman to lead the company in its history.
This appointment was historically significant not only for Petrobras but for the global energy industry, which had long been dominated by men in executive leadership. Foster's rise to the top of a major national oil company was seen as a landmark moment for women in the traditionally male-dominated sectors of heavy industry, engineering, and energy.
Her appointment was championed by then-President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's first female president, and was widely viewed as part of a broader push to place women in positions of significant economic and political power in Brazil. Foster had risen through the ranks of Petrobras over more than three decades, working her way up from an entry-level engineering position to the very top of the corporate hierarchy.
Her tenure was marked by the company's aggressive pursuit of pre-salt offshore oil reserves, though it later became embroiled in the massive Lava Jato (Car Wash) corruption scandal, which eventually led to her resignation in 2015. Nonetheless, her ascension to CEO remains a landmark achievement for women in global corporate leadership.